


Superpowered

by jng, JuneLuxray



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akechi Goro Lives, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-08-28 23:18:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jng/pseuds/jng, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuneLuxray/pseuds/JuneLuxray
Summary: An AU where almost everything is the same except the Phantom Thieves' Metaverse powers carry over into the real world and cause mishaps.





	1. Everyone is a Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> JuneLuxray: This was inspired by PsychicBeagle's work, "The Many Quirks of Phantom Thievery" which has a similar concept, and it's good, so you should go read it. This was the result of Jng and I tossing around headcanons for this AU and got too invested and started to write. This is unlikely to be an overly serious fic; it's mostly just us goofing around with the concept.

The day was, in a word, hell.

Not only had Ren Amamiya been dragged through some weird magical pervert castle, he had gone through the most pain he had ever experienced in his life in a matter of a minute and ripped his face off. The power that followed from a cackling demon thief, while exhilarating at first, left him exhausted and confused, just as the blond boy who was dragged in with him was. They had fought their way out of the castle with a strange cat monster and come out, resulting in him starting his first day at Shujin late.

The tardiness was barely what bothered him at that point. He cringed inwardly and sulked as the students inched away from him and whispered wrongdoings he had never committed, and no one helped. He doubted anyone would.

Part of him wondered why he even bothered continuing on.

He spent most of the rest of the school day silent, keeping to himself and pondering all that had happened that morning, and he wondered if it was somehow all a hallucination. Something felt funny in his nerves and muscles, tingly and alive, and an odd pressure that was neither painful nor pleasant tingled as it settled upon his heart. He felt as though he could call it forth, but he heard the demon thief’s voice-- Arsene-- laughing softly.

It was shortly after the last bell of the day did he find himself talking to Kawakami, who was warning him sternly about the blond boy, Ryuji Sakamoto-- a troublemaker, she said, someone who would only make his situation worse. It was then Sakamoto reappeared, scowling, to rebuff her concerns. He whispered to Ren that he would be waiting on the rooftop, and in spite of Kawakami’s warning, he made a beeline for the stairs to the rooftop.

“There you are.” Sakamoto said as Ren spied him leaning back in a seat idly, using one foot to steady himself and the other to push against a desk, several of which were scattered loosely on the rooftop, rocking himself anxiously as he stared at the transfer student. As Ren approached, he ceased his rocking, but kept himself in the position as he looked him up and down. “Sorry for callin’ you up here like this. I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like ‘don’t get involved with him,’ huh?”

Ren frowned. “How’d you know?” he questioned, to which Ryuji just sighed and frowned. Amamiya felt a pang of pity for the boy.

“Figured as much. Then again, we’re in the same boat.” Ren hung his head, and Sakamoto settled his chair and flipped one leg over the other lazily. “Heard you got a criminal record,” he said casually, “everyone’s talkin’ about it. No wonder you were so gutsy.”

Ren didn’t say anything. He just leaned himself against one of the desks and fixed Ryuji with a curious look. Ryuji took the opportunity to set his feet down and lean forward and frown seriously. “What was all that that happened? You know, how we almost got killed at a castle?” He huffed. “It wasn’t a dream, right? You remember it, too, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… just ‘cause we both remember it doesn’t mean much, though.” Ryuji groused. Ren shrugged and averted his gaze as he felt the strange presence in his heart pulse, and he shivered as it carried to his extremities. He was faintly aware of Sakamoto giving him a funny look. “You okay?”  
  
“Fine.” Ren lied. “I’m fine.”

“Okay… you got this weird, constipated look on your face...” Ryuji replied dubiously, but he smiled reassuringly. “You don’t have to lie to me. Anyways, even if it was a dream, you saved me from Kamoshida. So, yeah… thanks.”  
  
Ren shrugged. “You’re… welcome. I’m not sure what happened, though.”  
  
“Neither am I, but…” Ryuji frowned. “Let’s say it _did_ happen. What exactly happened to you in there?” He shook his head. “I was about to die, then you started screamin’ bloody murder, then you ripped your face off and then-- fire everywhere, weird outfit, demon thing that that weird cat called a Persona, the whole shebang.” Ryuji shuddered. “Are… you _really_ okay? I can’t imagine getting that Persona thing was easy… dream or not.”

Ren stared at Ryuji for what felt like a long time as Ryuji stared back silently. Ren shuddered as he felt a more intense pulse rock him and trickle down to his fingertips as a shuddering wave of energy, and he shook his head. “I-- I don’t know. There’s-- something… I can feel… _something.”_

 _Something_ was the only word he had for it, but he had little time to ponder it before he heard Ryuji gasp and the chair he was in scrape against the concrete as it pushed back. “Whoa, dude, you-- _your hands!”_

He looked down to see his hands were enshrouded in a mysterious, dark red energy that felt bone-chilling as he finally stared at it. He let out a sharp gasp and a yelp, stumbling on his feet as he flailed his hands up and down. It only seemed to provoke the energy as it hummed and strengthened in magnitude, forming balls of almost pitch-black energy weaving from his arms up to his elbows. He yelped again, but did not shake his arms further, electing to hold them out as far as possible and stare in terror as he breathed harshly.

Ryuji had risen to his feet and was gripping the hair on his head, biting his lip as he tried not to scream. "H-- hey!" he yelled, drawing Ren's wide-eyed attention. Ryuji bounced from one foot to the other anxiously as he hummed nervously for a moment before shrugging. "Y-- you're panicking!"

"Would you _not_ be panicking in my place?!" Ren cried. Ryuji groaned.

"I mean-- shit, you're right, but try-- try calming down and see if-- if that makes it stop!"

"I--"

"It's gonna be okay!" Ryuji tried to reassure. "Just trust me, okay? Take a deep breath and look at me, not your hands."

Ren hesitated, but dutifully picked his eyes up and stared at Ryuji, trying to settle his harsh breathing. An immediate effect came as he met Ryuji's reassuring albeit nervous smile, and the energy began to die down. Ryuji nodded. "That's it! Keep breathing with me, okay?"

"O-- Okay." Ren agreed, and he closed his eyes, trying to steady himself as he tried to even out his breathing. Slowly, he felt the dark energy trickle away, and heard Ryuji let out a sigh of relief as the last of it faded. Ren cracked his eyes open to see his completely unscathed hand and arms, and an exhausted-looking Ryuji who hung his arms to his sides tiredly as he panted with Ren.

A wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck, and Ren stumbled dazedly as the Awakening from earlier and the loss of energy from the stunt just moments ago came to greet him. Ryuji reached out and ushered him to the chair he had been sitting in. "Easy, buddy. Easy." he urged, and Ren allowed him to guide him to the seat as he sat and let out an exhausted sigh. Slowly, he took tired breaths, and after a moment of silence aside from his breathing, Ren cracked his eyes open and flipped his head over to see Ryuji standing and staring at him with a worried frown.

"I..." Ren shook his head. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"I don't know what's happening to you, either," Ryuji admitted sheepishly, "but, uh, that... energy stuff looked just like the stuff your... 'Persona' thing summoned in that weird place. I... I think it carried over here. To you." Ryuji groaned and ran a hand over his head. "Guess it wasn't a dream... y'got the powers to prove it."

 _Powers._ Ren shivered at the word and shook his head. "I don't want them. At all. Again, I really-- I really don't have a clue what's happening, but..." He stared up at Ryuji, paling. "I'm really sorry I dragged you into what should be only my problem, but... please don't tell anyone?"

Ryuji's frown softened, and he nodded. "I wouldn't do that to you," he reassured, "and y'don't gotta apologize. I think you need the help, and you saved my life; I can't abandon you now."

The other boy smiled weakly. "Thanks, Sakamoto."

"You can just call me Ryuji." The boy reached out and shook his shoulder. "Come on. We'll exchange chat IDs, and we'll figure this all out tomorrow."

* * *

The next day of school was no easier for Ren than the first day. Trying to keep his powers in check while listening to everyone spout lies about him, along with hearing Kamoshida's pointed, cruel comments made him constantly have to run to a bathroom stall, hands in his pockets, as he tried to soothe the dark aura pulsing around his hands. Ryuji did his best to try to help him hide it and encouraged him take some breaths to control it. At one point, he had jumped in front of him to keep anyone from seeing a particularly strong pulse of dark energy come from Ren's hands. At lunch, he shooed Ren to the rooftop and came up with two loaves of Showa-style fried dough, one for each of them.

"We're going back into that castle," Ryuji declared firmly, "after school. We're gonna figure out what it is and what it did to you, and what it has to do with Kamoshida. We'll figure it all out and find a way to deal with that son of a bitch."

Ren frowned nervously. "Are you sure you want to come?" he questioned. "What if the same thing that happened to me happens to you? What if you get a Persona, too?"

Ryuji stared at him for a moment before scoffing and shrugging. "I'll take my chances. I have to know what this has to do with Kamoshida... and besides..." He smiled. "Your powers are pretty damn cool. I'll live."

"It hurt." Ren warned. Ryuji didn't say anything for a moment before shrugging again idly.

"Not like it lasted long, right? And it probably won't happen to me. Probably. Would have happened yesterday while I was in there, right?"

Ryuji’s heart shuddered with anxiety and anticipation in equal measure; admittedly, the notion scared him, but he decided what he had to do. No matter what, he knew he had to go back-- not just for his maybe-revenge against Kamoshida, to discover why students from the volleyball team were imprisoned there, and also for this new kid, who desperately needed a friend-- much like himself.

He found himself baffled by everything he saw and felt and heard when they returned to the castle, and the cat's explanations did little to help him. He felt something angry and alive, him but not him, roil in his heart as he saw the students being tortured as Morgana explained that they weren't real, but images of how Kamoshida saw them in his eyes.

It was worse than he ever imagined, and that something in him crackled but remained silent until he found himself staring at Amamiya and Morgana, shoved under a shadow knight's boot, ready to be crushed at a moment's notice. Amamiya shouted at him to not give in, and he shivered subtly as he felt a pressure mount in the back of his skull. He knew instinctively what was about to happen to him-- Amamiya's warning was about to come true. Nevertheless, he stood and defied Kamoshida, welcoming the him but not-him.

The pain was overwhelming. Within seconds of the burning, stabbing agony's roaring to life, feeling as though it was tearing his brain apart, Ryuji was on the floor screaming even louder than Ren had the day prior as Captain Kidd spoke to him. Mercifully, it didn’t last more than a minute, and though it had burned and hurt horribly to rip the mask off, he felt a surge of power in every muscle and every cell of his body, tingling at his fingertips as he picked his head up to grin triumphantly at Shadow Kamoshida.

He saved the group, and narrowly, they all escaped. Ryuji found himself panting and his muscles aching as a wave of exhaustion slammed into him like a truck, and he supported himself for a moment with a fist against the wall of the alleyway they had hid in to go into the Metaverse. The exhaustion had almost made the whole superpowers business escape his mind, but he was too tired to test it, so he elected to simply invite Ren to his favorite ramen shop to get to know each other. Then he would head home and sleep, and they would start working on their plan to upend Kamoshida's grip on the school.

Shortly after getting their food, Ryuji questioned the story behind Ren's probation, and in spite of his exhaustion, he felt burning rage rise as the other boy finished his sordid story. He was an innocent who did the right thing, who did not regret doing the right thing, and who was suffering because of doing the right thing.

It enraged Ryuji to no end and made him sick to his stomach to be reminded of exactly how unfair the world could be.

"WHAT?!" he cried, his eyes narrowing. "How much shittier can that asshole get?!"

Ren's eyes flickered to Ryuji's fingers, which he saw brief flashes of light around, and he looked up, frowning. "It's... in the past." he tried to dismiss. Ryuji scoffed.

"Are you joking?! I wouldn't rest until I punched that dick in the face!"

Ryuji slammed his bowl down on the counter, and only noticed the electricity weaving between his fingers for a split second before the energy surged, and in an instant, the shop was plunged into darkness as confused patrons cried out in surprise and dismay. A faint burning odor was in the air. Both boys froze and looked at each other, Ren in a mix of shock and horror, and Ryuji in sheer embarrassment as the boy's cheeks went a deep red only masked by the darkness.

"Oops." Ryuji whispered sheepishly. "I didn't mean to..."

"Come on," Ren urged, almost reaching for Ryuji's hand, pausing halfway, and electing to wave forward, "let's go before someone gets suspicious."

"But you barely touched your food--"

"Don't care. We already paid. Let's go!" Ren urged, and he hurried out with Ryuji following at his heel. Ryuji looked down at his hands and saw trickles of electricity still dancing along his hands, and he yelped.

"Dude!" he hissed anxiously as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "My hands--!"

"Follow me!" Ren cried, and the two pushed out past the crowd and into a nearby alleyway, where Ryuji pulled his hands from his pockets and stared anxiously at them.

 _"Shiiit,"_ Ryuji whined as he shook his hands, "shit, shit, _shit!_ Now I got powers, too!"

"Hey. Look at me." Ren urged, and Ryuji looked up at him, wide-eyed. "Breathe with me. Remember what you told me yesterday?"

Ryuji sighed and nodded. He met Ren's eyes and breathed carefully, in and out, until the last of the power faded away. The boy hunched over, panting tiredly, and he shook his head. "God, I've never been tired like this. But... thanks." He looked up at Ren again and shook his head. _"Both_ of us, now... we got effin' _superpowers_ to try to deal with. But at least neither of us are alone in this."

Ren cracked a weak smile. "That's right."

"Eff..." Ryuji groaned and shook his head again. "Guess you were right about what would happen to me. Just... can't believe we _both_ caught the powers... the _hell."_

"You're phrasing it like it's a disease."

"It ain't like that! It's just-- feels really _weird."_ He groaned. "What the _hell_ have we gotten ourselves into?"

* * *

Ann was not having a good day.

Between Shiho, the sexual assault from Kamoshida, the transfer student and Sakamoto treating her like she was fragile, and the kidnapping from a version of Kamoshida who thought he was a king, her day was far from being a good day.

The chains were a bit too much. She had never asked to be strapped to a crucifix in some gross sex dungeon, nor had she asked for the pulsing headache that had consumed her entire body, or the latex bodysuit, or the mask she had to pry off of her face.

She supposed it wasn’t _all_ bad; she had awakened to an indescribable power that had allowed her to finally fight back, like she had been wanting to for so long. She was finally able to speak her mind and tell Kamoshida just how much she hated him, even if it wasn’t to his actual self. It had felt amazing getting all of that off her chest. At the end of the day, Sakamoto and Amamiya-kun had been there for support. She couldn’t remember the last time someone aside from Shiho had been there to back her up.

She wasn’t completely sure there ever _was_ a time.

The exhaustion weighed heavy on her chest. All at once, it hit her. She would have promptly collapsed had Amamiya not been there to catch her. Sakamoto had gone off to buy some drinks at one of the vending machines.

“Can you stand?” Amamiya asked her. His arms were wrapped around her waist in support.

“Y- yeah, I’m alright.” Ann muttered. “Just… exhausted.” She brushed him away and instead opted to lean against the brick wall.

Amamiya nodded.

At that moment, the cat that Amamiya seemed to carry with him everywhere popped out of his bag. “Don’t worry, that’s completely normal. Your body isn’t quite used to your persona yet. This should be the only time you ever feel exhausted like this after using your persona.”

Ann startled. Did that cat just _talk?!_

“That cat… I must be going crazy.” She pressed a hand to her forehead in disbelief. What had her life come to…

The cat (Morgana, or so she thought his name was) visibly deflated. “I’m not a cat!”

Amamiya reached behind himself and patted the top of Morgana’s head. “You’re not going crazy. Now that you’ve heard Morgana’s voice in the Metaverse, you’re able to process it here, too.”

“Right…” Ann groaned. “...So that castle…”

“Was part of the Metaverse.” Amamiya finished.

At that moment, Sakamoto rejoined the group. He held out two beverages. “Which one you want?”

“Whichever one isn’t carbonated.” Ann answered; she had never been particularly fond of soft drinks.

“They’re both carbonated.” Sakamoto deadpanned.

“Then... the left one.”

He held out the drink in his left hand to her. She accepted it and twisted the cap off, taking a small sip. Cool, tangy lemonade flooded her taste buds, soothing her sore throat. She sighed, and recapped her drink.

“Takamaki-san, you’re… smoking a bit.” Amamiya noted.

Ann cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Excuse me?”

He tapped on his wrist and nodded towards her. Sakamoto made a face that Ann couldn’t quite decipher.

Only then did the smell hit her.

“Is something burning?” she wondered out loud.

“Yeah. It’s you.” Sakamoto replied dryly.

_“What?!”_

She dropped her bottle and held out her hands. She was, indeed, burning. Fire emerged from her palms, the ash and embers dancing from her fingertips. Ann let out a startled yelp and began waving her hands around in attempt to extinguish the fire.

“Takamaki-san, it’s okay. That’s completely normal.” Amamiya tried to reassure. She glared at him coldly.

 _“Normal?!_ I am on _fire_ right now! What part of that is _normal?!”_

Morgana leapt out of Amamiya’s bag and approached her. “It’s because of your persona. Your magic abilities from the Metaverse carry over to this world, too. You need to calm down.”

Sakamoto nodded. “Just breathe, Takamaki. I know it’s scary, but you gotta breathe. Follow my lead, okay? In for five seconds, hold for five, out for seven. Got it?”

She followed his instructions, and soon enough, the fire lit in her palms began to extinguish.

“What the _hell_ was that?” She asked. Her voice shook violently, as if she were about to burst into tears. God, today really just was not her day. She needed a long shower and a nap.  Maybe she’d wake up and realize it was all a bad dream.

“That was your persona,” Morgana explained, “well, your persona’s powers. You’re able to use fire magic. It will take a little getting used to, but you’ll eventually get the hang of it. You just have to remain calm.”

“You’re already better than Ryuji. He caused a power outage in a ramen shop the other day.” Amamiya stated with a slight smirk.

Sakamoto lightly nudged him in the side. “Dude, shut up!”

“Wait, were _you_ the one to cause the power outage in school today?” Ann gasped. Shortly after the incident with Shiho, the power had gone out. Thankfully, the school had a backup generator on standby, but for a good ten minutes, it had been completely dark.

Sakamoto’s face turned a few shades of pink. “Look, I was really heated. It wasn’t my fault.”

Ann couldn’t help but crack a smile at that. “Oh my God. It really _was_ you.”

_“Shut up.”_

The girl giggled and brushed her bangs to the side, leveling her eyes with the others. “So does this mean we’re a team now? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not going to stop until I get revenge for what that bastard did to Shiho…”

Amamiya nodded. “Welcome to the team.”

“Great. I hope we get along, Amamiya-kun.”

He held up a hand. “Just Ren is fine.”

“Ren…” She spoke his name softly, as if testing out the waters, as she took his hand. “Then you can call me Ann. Both of you can call me Ann.”

“Alright, Ann, then just call me Ryuji. If we’re a team we might as well be on first name basis.” Sakamoto -- er, Ryuji -- added, beaming. He, too, stuck out his hand, and she shook his as well. She nodded.

“Sounds good. I hope you three don’t plan on going into the palace without me. If you leave me behind, I’ll just do it myself.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Ren promised. He offered her a weary smile, and she returned the gesture.

So it seemed, she had finally found a place to belong.

“Your hair’s on fire, by the way.”

* * *

In retrospect, perhaps Yusuke should have listened when they had warned him about Madarame.

When Takamaki-san had said she would accept his offer to model nude for him, he had never anticipated a trip into a different reality that would result in the most intense pain he had ever felt in his life, followed by him having to rip half his face off. Perhaps she had seemed a bit… strange earlier. He hadn’t been able to quite put his finger on it then, but looking back, it was rather obvious something was up.

He still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened over in… that world. All at once, several things had been thrown at him. Sen-- _Madarame_ wasn’t just “borrowing” ideas, he was ruining lives. Yusuke, it seemed, was next in line to have his life ruined. The answer had been right under his nose the entire time, but he had always turned away. Madarame, the man who had practically raised Yusuke as his own son, really was just using Yusuke. The truth hurt worse than the years of abuse.

All those useless emotions Yusuke had kept contained had just come pouring out. Someone had opened up the valve, and all the contents within had completely rushed out. He had been taught that all his emotions were good for was his art. Yusuke had always stuck by that. The only time he ever acknowledged his emotions were while painting. Any other time, he kept them somewhere within, completely bottled up. It was all he knew how to do.

He had been forced to confront his true self. The pain was unbearable. It wasn’t until afterwards where he realized he had dug his fingers so hard into the ground they started bleeding. He had been too focused on the mental, skull cracking pain to really think about that part. After all was said and done, he had been left with a rush of exhaustion, and a newfound persona.

Takamaki-san had suggested going to the nearby Shibuya diner after palace exploration. Somehow, he had allowed himself to be lead there, and found himself seated between Sakamoto and the wall. Takamaki-san and Amamiya sat across from him, that cat apparently known as Morgana located in Amamiya’s bag, directly between them.

“Guess this means you’re one of us now, huh.” Sakamoto said behind a forkful of noodles. He clapped Yusuke on the back before quickly retreating his hand. “Christ, dude, you’re cold to touch! ‘S like touching a metal pole.”

Yusuke pointedly ignored the second half of Sakamoto’s comment and nodded. “If you all will let me, I would like to become a part of your team, at least temporarily. Knowing what Madarame has done...” He traced soft designs onto the pattern of his glass of water.

Takamaki-san nodded. “We’d love to have you on the team. Right, Leader?”

Amamiya smiled. “Oh, but no nude paintings.”

His brows lifted. “Ah, so that was all a plan?... That’s quite daring, Takamaki-san.”

Takamaki flushed and accusingly pointed at Sakamoto and Amamiya. “It wasn’t my idea-- it was theirs!”  
  
“What else were we supposed to do?” Sakamoto cried defensively. “It’s his fault for going on and on about the nude modeling thing!”

Yusuke shrugged. “I haven’t given up on that yet, though.”

Takamaki’s eyes narrowed, and for a second, he thought he saw pinpricks of flames on her fingers. “Give it up!” she snapped, then sighed, closing her eyes and breathing out carefully until the flickers of flame died off. He cocked his head to the side, but thought better of bringing it up at the moment, given all he had seen that day combined with his exhaustion. He bowed his head.

“A shame. Understood.” he acknowledged. He lifted his glass of water to his lips and sipped from the straw. Yusuke paused when no liquid came out, and curiously, he examined the glass, only to be met with a solid block of ice.

Sakamoto let out a hearty laugh. “Dude, you totally froze it!”

“I did?” Yusuke questioned as he raised an eyebrow.

Morgana poked out of the bag and pressed his paws to the table. “It’s because of your persona. Your persona has ice powers, so those powers have carried over into the real world.”

Yusuke lifted a hand to his chin. “Hm... interesting. Is there any way to control these abilities?”

Morgana nodded. “Usually staying calm is what does it. If your emotions get out of control, then that can set off your powers. Just try to be careful about how you use them.”

He nodded. “I will do my best.”

Takamaki’s eyes widened. “Wow, that’s it? I wish _I_ could have been so calm when I got _my_ powers...” she mumbled as she twirled the straw in her hot chocolate.

“You set the fire alarm off twice.” Sakamoto said as he pointed his fork at her with a smug grin. She made a face, her nose scrunching up.

_“Shut up.”_

“Ryuji, you caused at least three power outages the first week you had your powers. You also short circuited around once a day.” Amamiya pointed out. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as Sakamoto sputtered indignantly. Finally, Ryuji pouted at him.

“Says the guy who was constantly flippin’ through Personas and couldn’t control what powers he had.” Ryuji retorted. “Maybe you didn’t have as many mess-ups, but yours were worse.”

“Oh, yeah.” Ann said as she giggled. “Remember when he got mad, caused a power outage at school, and tried to blame you for it?”

“Right?” Ryuji snickered. _“Then_ on the same day, he froze an entire hallway and tried to fix it by using fire magic, but he just ended up flooding the hallway!”

Ren reddened as the other two laughed, and in spite of his stress and emotional state, Yusuke smiled and laughed quietly behind a hand. Somehow, he knew he’d be okay with these newfound friends.

Ryuji paused and frowned. “Uh, dude? I think you’re going a bit too far.” he groaned. He nudged Yusuke’s side. “I’m kinda frozen to my seat here. Not cool.”

Ren smirked. “I don’t know Ryuji, I’d say that’s pretty cool.”

“Ugh. Bad joke.”

“My apologies.” Yusuke said. Aimlessly, he tapped his fingers against his frozen glass.

Ann sighed and stood, approaching their side of the table. She pressed a hand to the back of their booth. “Well, not the worst mistake in the world. You’ll get the hang of it eventually. It’s all about emotional control, right?”

“Right. Just do your best to stay calm in times of crisis,” Morgana commented. He paused before quickly adding, “and please don’t freeze the school hallway.”

Yusuke sighed. Eventually he’d have to get used to his powers, preferably sooner than later. Maybe with all the support he was being shown for the first time in his life, it wouldn’t be so bad.

“Lady Ann, that seat is… on fire.”

...Or maybe not.

* * *

Makoto couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw it.

She crouched behind the bush she hid near, her phone recording the sight and sound of Amamiya, Takamaki, and Sakamoto practicing in a well-secluded corner in the back of the school. They practiced in the concrete corner, which was blackened with impacts from magic. Amamiya had put up several pieces of paper with a target printed on them, and she filmed everyone having a go at shooting the target. Fire ran up and down Takamaki’s hands and arms, the ends of her clothes singed, while Sakamoto grinned proudly as electricity weaved around him. Amamiya was hanging his head, eyes closed as he focused, and what was originally a reddish darkish aura around him morphed into cold, blistering ice. He picked his head back up to smile at the others, who nodded in approval.

They took their places several paces from the targets, magic crackling, waiting until the cat that was always in Amamiya’s bag meowed with a certain tone she found authoritative in manner. Everyone struck the targets, which burned from the inside out into piles of ashes on the ground (except for Amamiya’s, which merely had a sharp icicle lodged through it). Grinning, they high-fived each other as their magic settled down, laughing and praising each other for bullseyes. She only snuck away from the scene with her head swimming after the team practiced for a while more and then dispersed after agreeing to make a run to some place they called ‘Mementos’ the following day.

Everyone in school knew they were doing _something_ back there in that corner-- how could they not with the sounds and smell of smoke and ozone? Even so, no one dared to sneak over there while they were doing whatever they did; anyone curious simply felt the hairs on the back of their necks rise, and they fled before they got close enough. The only ones who made the journey during those days were Mishima-kun, who visited them often during practice, and one time, some members of the former track team, who had looked shaken as they left but refused to talk about it. Any investigators after the group left only found the soot and ice left behind, which spawned rumors she had once scoffed at.

She had asked those few members of the track team what they saw, to which they very brusquely said they had seen nothing of interest. She had also asked Mishima, who stammered nervously for a moment, stated firmly they weren’t up to anything interesting, and scurried off, wide-eyed, no doubt to warn Amamiya-kun about the encounter.

Makoto would be lying if she said the reason she was sneaking up on them was solely for her investigation-- she had the evidence she needed after Sakamoto’s outburst to confront Amamiya-kun and the others. She found herself with additional evidence as she walked away, stunned and head swimming, as she struggled to process the undeniable magic she had just witnessed.

What she never expected is that _she_ would soon be among those magic users with mysterious powers.

The team had hurried out of Kaneshiro’s Palace and into the walkway of Shibuya where she had confronted them. She was crouching, panting tiredly, as the team surrounded her.  
  
“Man, talk about wild…” Ryuji muttered. “That was no aikido-- that was some hard-core asswhooping!”

“I am _so_ not pissing her off… I feel like she’ll tear off my arm.” Ann agreed. Yusuke nodded from where he kneeled by her.

“She does exude that aura…”

“Oh, stop it!” Makoto groaned as she pushed herself up. She shook her head. “This is the most exhausted I have ever been in these past few years…” She was silent a second, remembering all that had happened less than half an hour ago. She welcomed her Shadow with open arms, fought her way through the excruciating pain, and come out with her other self-- a motorcycle named Johanna.

Now, she felt the power of her Persona’s magic flowing through every inch of her body, and she smiled weakly. “It... felt pretty great, though… I never thought I’d become part of the Phantom Thieves I was after… Sis might faint if she found out.”

She answered a few questions afterwards from the team about her sister, Sae, her phone had buzzed, and she opened it to see a message from Kaneshiro reminding the team of their debt. Anger and disgust rose up in her-- then she froze, wide-eyed, and with a split-second of panic, she shoved her phone into Ren’s hands before hugging herself and breathing carefully to keep the wave of energy she felt from escaping her.

Ann and Ryuji gave her funny looks, but Amamiya seemed to understand immediately as he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “That’s right. Breathe in and out, carefully, slowly. In for five, hold for five, out for seven. You can control your powers.”

She mimicked the rhythm until she felt the surge die down, and she cracked open her exhausted eyes. “So… I’m like all of you, now. I have…”  
  
“Powers, yes.” Yusuke confirmed with a nod. “In your case, nuclear magic.”

She paled. “Does… that mean I’m letting off radioactivity?”

“No.” Morgana reassured from Ren’s shoulder. “Nuclear magic isn’t exactly the same thing as nuclear power like you think of it. It’s all the power and explosive potential without the dangerous radiation. There’s no downside, and you don’t have to be worried.”  
  
“Are you sure?” she asked warily. Ryuji laughed and nodded.

“We’re sure. One time Ren had a nuclear Persona on him and got brainwashed. Ended up almost blowing up the entire team. We were fine, though. None of us got sick.”

“Indeed.” Yusuke agreed with a nod. “He unleashed so much energy he almost could have been a walking nuclear reactor. We would all be suffering the effects of radiation poisoning if it was dangerous, beyond almost blowing us all up…”  
  
“It wasn’t my fault!” Ren cried, cheeks reddening. “Let’s-- let’s move on. Anyways, you don’t need to worry, Makoto.” He smiled sheepishly. “You can join us for after-school practice sessions. You’ll get it down in no time-- and if it makes you feel any better about the situation, you’re showing way more control than any of us did when we first got our powers. Ryuji caused like three or four blackouts his first week.”  
  
“Shuddup! You got your powers only a day before me; like you were any better.” Ryuji scoffed.

“I was, though.”

“Bullshit.”

“Anyways…” Ann cut in, smiling at Makoto. “Go home and rest. Remember to take some deep breaths and call us if you need help.”

She nodded, thanked them, and made her way home. It was about midnight by the time she got back into the apartment, and she had just eaten and gotten through the shower by the time Sae got home, who gave her a funny look.

“You’re still up?”  
  
“Yes, but no need to worry.” Makoto reassured. “I was just... doing schoolwork and lost track of time.”

Sae smiled. “I like to hear you’re working hard. Go get some rest, though-- you have school tomorrow and you need to be awake enough to face it.”

Makoto nodded and excused herself to bed. Though she was absolutely exhausted, she found it difficult to fall asleep, so she pulled a book from her shelf and began flipping through it, though she wasn’t really paying attention to its contents. Her mind kept drifting back to the events of the day-- being stunned by the Metaverse, ripping off the upper half of her face with a mask, riding Johanna… she shivered as she felt the pulse of Johanna assert herself in her heart.

Her phone buzzed again, and she rolled over to look at it. She scowled as she saw yet another late-night text from Kaneshiro mocking her and her new friends over the whole ordeal, and it made her blood boil as she scowled and set the phone down. She stewed over it for a moment-- how could a man become so callous, so awful, so greedy? Who could torture innocent youth except for a monster?

“I’ll make him pay.” she growled to herself, and she angrily tossed the book to the end of her bed. She only saw the hot white flash in her hands a split second, blinding her before a _BOOM_ came. She shrieked as she pushed herself away from the charring mass of burnt paper as it landed on her bed, staring as her vision returned to her. She stamped it out quickly as it hit her sheets, her cheeks going bright red.

Her door slammed open, and she turned to see Sae in the doorway, wide-eyed and panting as she stared at the scene. Immediately, she rushed over, pulling Makoto to her feet and away from the bed as she looked her over. “Are you okay?! What happened?!”  
  
“I’m-- I’m fine, sis, you don’t need to worry. I’m not hurt.” Makoto looked back over at the book. “I… uh…” She swallowed hard and hung her head, shaking as she fought for an explanation to give her sister. Instead of waiting, Sae just growled and grabbed her sister’s hand.  
  
“Someone planted a bomb in our apartment.” she reasoned. “My god.”  
  
“Are you s…”  
  
“Come on,” Sae urged, pulling her along. “We’re getting out of here and calling the police. The entire apartment building needs to be evacuated!”  
  
“I…”  
  
“I know it’s scary, but it’s all going to be okay.” Sae reassured as she pulled her out of the apartment, her phone in her other hand as she dialed 119. “I won’t let anyone hurt you!”

Makoto buried her face in her other hand, her cheeks bright red.

* * *

 

Life had been hellish for the last two years for Futaba. Her fortunes had changed for the better when she found the Phantom Thieves, and with their help, they set her heart free at last. Entering her own Palace and Awakening her Persona had been absolutely exhausting, but liberating. It had felt _amazing_ to let go of years of guilt and despair, leaving her dizzy with the clarity and hope Necronomicon gave her.

She had passed out immediately when she got home; Awakening felt as good to her as it did exhaust her. When she finally awakened, feeling unusually perky, she wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but she blinked and yawned as she jumped straight from her bed to her chair at her computer. It struck her odd how easily she moved-- for years, it had felt exhausting just to crawl out of bed, but she felt strong and healthy.

Futaba shrugged it off as a byproduct of her Persona freeing her from crippling guilt, and got to work on dismantling those who had taken her name-- Medjed. When her fingers met her keyboard, she was suddenly consumed with unusual clarity and focus. She knew who her target was, and exactly how to program their demise. She opened her programs and swiftly typed, hardly thinking about how, even though it was easy for her to begin with, it had become even easier, as natural as breathing.

Before she knew it, she had hacked Medjed’s website and released the personal information of its head. When she pulled away to admire her work, she snapped back into reality, and she blinked, befuddled, as she shook her head in confusion. She checked the clock on her computer and her brows lifted as she saw that only an hour-- not even-- had passed. “Whoa,” she whispered to herself, “how did I…? I mean, I’m good, but not _that_ good…”

_You are now._

Futaba jumped at the sound of Necronomicon echoing in her ears. She shivered-- she had known about the others’ powers through her bugs, but was too exhausted to consider it happening to _her_. It dawned upon her, and her eyes widened as she sat in silence, contemplating it.

 _That’s not all,_ Necronomicon whispered as she flinched, _you have many other abilities… you only need to look in your heart to figure it out._

She sat for a few more stunned minutes, thinking inwardly. Finally, she lifted her head, a wicked grin on her face.

“Oh,” she said, giggling madly, “this is going to be fun.”

Instinctively, she knew what she was capable of. She had just proven her technological capabilities to herself, but a few others lingered within her. She couldn’t summon fire or lightning or ice like the others could, but she had power, far less physically destructive power, but manipulative.

Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up to see the group chat excitedly praising her for her job well done.

 **Ryuji:** Holy shit, that was fast!

 **Ann:** Way to go, Futaba-chan!

Futaba smiled to herself.

 **Futaba:** Hehehe… don’t underestimate me. I think my Persona’s power has only made me better at what I was already good at. Among other things.

 **Yusuke:** So that’s what your power entails… interesting.

 **Makoto:** That’s an amazing power, Futaba, but try not to overdo it. Thank you for your efforts.

 **Ren:** Why don’t you come to Leblanc? Sojiro’s out making a run to the store, but I can let you in. We’d like to talk about your role on the team, if you’d be willing to join us.

 **Ren:** Also, I’m making curry and coffee.

Futaba pushed herself off her seat, readying to walk over to Leblanc, when a new possibility rose to her mind. _Position Hack._

She internalized the image of the first floor of Leblanc, and with a little focus, her vision darkened for a split second, then she found herself in the middle of the group of bewildered teenagers, and the sound of yelping and shouts came. Instinctively, she thought of another power-- _Final Guard._ Futaba threw a protective green force field around herself, covered her, ears and closed her eyes. 

Futaba wasn’t sure how long she had been huddled in that bubble when she heard knocking echo throughout it. She pulled her hands away from her ears and looked up to see Ren kneeling down beside her, his fist raised to the exterior of the bubble. She blinked at the green tint the bubble gave the outside world, watching as Ren mouthed “it’s okay” to her.

With a sigh, the field lowered, and she was left staring up, bewildered, at the equally bewildered group around her. There were a few burns and scuff marks on the tables they sat at, but nothing in the cafe looked horribly damaged, mercifully. Morgana was yowling on the ground beside a few knocked-over stools, but was uninjured.

Ren extended a hand to her and helped her upright as she wobbled on her feet awkwardly. Ryuji, from the table where a static-y aura around him was lifting up the hairs of both him and Ann beside him, who had smoke pluming around her (though both of which effects were fading), whistled.

 _"Daaamn_ … so those are your powers.” He grinned. “That’s so cool, Futaba!”

Futaba blushed as Ann and Yusuke nodded in agreement and smiled at her. Makoto crossed her arms. “They are amazing powers, but… I would refrain from teleporting in on us.” She side-eyed Ryuji and Ann. “Some of us are… not as good at controlling our powers when startled.”

“It wasn’t THAT bad,” Ann protested, “nothing was seriously damaged this time.”

 _“This_ time…” Yusuke muttered. Futaba shrugged.

“I mean… I don’t know. I can just… feel what I can do now. And I think if I focus really hard…” She turned and stared, hard, at Ren, who stared back, bewildered, until she nodded. “You’re carrying… Anubis, Neko Shogun, Arsene, Isis, Shiki-Ouji, and White Rider, aren’t you?”

Ren blinked, and the others’ brows lifted. He nodded. “That’s right. You can scan people too?”

Futaba nodded. “There’s… _so much,_ if I focus. I guess all of that more than makes up for not being able to spit fire or electrocute someone.” She grinned. “This is _waaay_ better than that.”

Morgana sighed from his spot on the ground near his knocked-over stool. “Why do I feel like we’ve created a monster…?”

* * *

The last few days had been hectic. That was the best word Haru could use for it.

It had all started when she had followed a magic cat who introduced her to the Metaverse, and she had dipped into the power of Persona. The cat’s spat with the Phantom Thieves was resolved, and she was welcomed into the fold with open arms. Looking around the room as Mona-chan talked, it didn’t surprise her a bit for many of who she saw-- the transfer student, Takamaki, Sakamoto, Niijima-- all people the school whispered about when they went into the secretive practice corner. She had thought it curious, but never pressed further or sought out gossip; her life was too hectic for such a thing. Her heart fluttered a bit to think that she was now among them, one of them.

The business with superpowers, as described and shown by the cat, Morgana, had shocked her for all of a few seconds before she giddily asked if there was a way she could have powers, too, to be just like him and the Phantom Thieves. Though he had frowned upon mention of the Phantom Thieves, he agreed, and she came into her powers (or the start of them, at least). Soon after, they reunited with the team.

She listened as Mona explained her situation to the Phantom Thieves, and she felt a faint but present pulse in her heart, that of Milady, which she had already learned she could press a little to subtly influence people’s thoughts and actions. Her father had backed off from her shifty actions the last few days, but much to her dismay, her power wasn’t strong enough to push him off the engagement, nor was it enough to convince Sugimura to back off on the matter completely. Both men complained of headaches when she tried, much to her own surprise, but the others merely side-eyed her and shrugged.

It wasn’t until her next foray into the Metaverse that she awakened to her true power. She had gone through the skull-splitting pain the others had described; she had prior experienced the burn of pulling off the bloody mask combined with a painful but not unbearable headache, and thought herself lucky. Haru had no idea how bad it would actually be to undergo the full level of pain the others had gone through, but she came out of the other side, with Milady much stronger and much more present in her. She felt exhausted but exhilarated, thrilled as she realized she was finally granted the full breadth of power the others had.

The others watched in amusement as she lifted heavy weights lying in the corner of Ren’s room excitedly, holding them up and over her head as if they were no heavier than a feather.

“Super strength,” Ryuji said cheerfully, “it’s fun, isn’t it? Wait ‘til you try running or jumping-- it’s _awesome.”_

“Just be careful and don’t push it too hard.” Makoto warned. “It’s very easy to overexert yourself in the first few weeks after Awakening.”

“I’ll do my best, Mako-chan!” she said gleefully as she set down a 100 pound weight where it belonged after bouncing it between her hands. She let out a sigh. “I am a bit disappointed, though, that I don’t seem to be able to unleash pure energy like you all…”  
  
“You can do that mind-control thing.” Ann smiled wryly. “Trust me-- you don’t _want_ to deal with pure energy. It’s _way_ harder to hide at first.”

Morgana nodded proudly. “There’s more than just brute strength in this world. You should be proud of what you have. Also, be careful when you use your mind control-- if you push it too hard, you can hurt someone. It’s how psychic damage works.”

“I understand.” She paused, then shrugged. “I just feel like I’m missing… something.”

Yusuke pushed forward an empty jagariko cup that he had abandoned on the table top. He nodded at it. “Joker has had psychic Personas before. Stare at this cup, focus upon it, try to move it without touching it, and see if something happens.”

She hesitated. “What if I…”  
  
“Go for it, Noir.” Ryuji reassured with a grin.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them, focusing very hard on the cup. Within a few seconds, it began to rattle, and all the others’ eyes flew to the cup in curiosity. Haru let out a gasp and a giggle, and with an urge from Milady, she knew what to do with it. Slowly, she lifted it from the tabletop, drawing impressed _oohs_ from the others as she levitated it.

A wave of exhaustion hit her, though, and she gasped as she dropped the cup. She panted and allowed herself to be ushered to a chair by Ren, who smiled proudly at her.

“That was beautiful, Haru.”

“Indeed,” Yusuke breathed, “such focus and effort… with practice, you will be able to artfully lift objects with your mind.”

“Take it easy for now, though.” Makoto encouraged. “We’re all here to help, but you need to take it one step at a time.”

Haru nodded and smiled weakly. “It’s so hard to resist, though…” she murmured. “It’s so much fun!”

Exhausted, she parted ways with the group for the day, and home she went. She had intended just to shower and study a bit, then sleep to be ready for another day in the Palace, but her father had other ideas. As she stepped through the door and saw her father on the phone with someone as he looked out the wall-sized windows to the city around them. Cautiously, she tiptoed past, trying not to be seen nor heard.

“Haru.”

She inhaled through her teeth and forced a neutral expression as she turned to face her father approaching her. She stood straight. “Yes, father?”

“We need to have a talk,” he said firmly, “about your behavior around your fiance.”

Haru couldn’t help the frown that crawled on her face. Just hearing about Sugimura made her blood boil, and her father frowned. “Don’t give me that face. You’ll get used to him, and you need to make peace with what’s happening.”

Internally, she panicked. Her eyes fled his gaze as she looked around the room for a suitable distraction, and as her eyes landed on an expensive decorative vase, she kept looking-- only for it to follow the direction of her eyes. She let out a yelp, startling her father as it dropped, and she blanched as he turned to stare at the broken shards on the ground. He blinked.

“What in the--”

Haru feigned ignorance and backed away. “How…?” Her eyes flitted about the room, to the opposite side of the room where a large bookshelf sat; she yelped as it trembled under her gaze and the books came falling out as the shelf toppled. As it crashed violently to the ground, she shrieked and jumped back.

Without looking at her father, she bolted to her room, leaving him to stare out in befuddlement at the ruined living room. As soon as she reached her room, she flopped down face-first on her bed, face bright red. After a moment of silence, she moaned for several seconds before muttering to herself:

“I really must get control over these powers…”

* * *

When Akechi had first awakened to his powers, he had been fifteen and alone.

The pain had been excruciating. He was no stranger to headaches, but no headache he ever had could even pale next to the sharp, mental burning sensation he had been forced to endure, all the while two completely contradicting voices screamed in his ear. Ripping off his face had been no walk in the park, either. Just thinking back on it sent a shudder through his entire body.

Either way, he was still alone. All of that pain, and no one to tell him what it all meant. Extreme power with no one to tell him how to use it. Deep, traumatic rage buried within his heart, and no one to tell him to be careful. Personas, and no one to explain his powers were real.

Outside the Metaverse, that first night, several mistakes were made. Somehow he had “accidentally” struck one of the other kids in the orphanage with some of Loki’s power, only to find in the morning that one of the windows had been smashed and he had escaped. A dark aura of pure angst and fear surrounded Akechi, the low thrum of it all reminding him that he was the real monster here. Others stood clear of him from then on.

In a span of two years, Akechi had somehow adapted to his powers. He was a Detective Prince, after all. He had to throw on a fake smile and pretend that all of his knowledge came from high amounts of charm and pure deduction. He wore gloves to help keep his powers insulated in the event they came out. He kept all his emotions locked away inside, and acted as if nothing was wrong. Most importantly, he kept a tight leash on his personas. When out in public, it was Robin Hood who he had equipped. Robin Hood was the living embodiment of the public’s perspective on Akechi, so why make them think otherwise. The occasional mishap was easier to explain, and his persona was just as charismatic and admirable as Akechi, himself.

Loki was the voice he kept locked inside through thick and thin. The devil on his shoulder, his insecurities and issues all personified, everything Akechi was but did not want to be. Loki was the living reminder of all of Akechi’s failures, as well as his insanity. He was everything Akechi wanted to do to others. Everything Akechi wanted to do to himself.

Mistakes made under Loki’s power were much easier to keep hidden, though the effects were nearly always permanent. Akechi tended to take extra precautions under Loki that were not necessary with Robin Hood. With Loki, the gloves were completely necessary.

Those who were hit by Loki’s power all turned psychotic. Typically, the formula was simple. They went off on their own, acted illegally and dangerously, and usually that night they wound up on the news after word of their activity was leaked to the public. No one ever knew it was Akechi’s doing, and no one ever would.

Teaming up with the Phantom Thieves had been an experience that Akechi was not quite sure if he regretted or if it was the best decision he had ever made. It was clear from the start that they were against it, but they didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter. Akechi made sure of that.

They had agreed to meet up at Leblanc after school. To assess the situation and plan ahead, or so Akechi had been told. None of it really mattered in the long run. After all, Amamiya would be killed, and the Phantom Thieves would disband.

Akechi lifted a cup of coffee to his lips and took a slow sip. The bitter, acidic flavor danced across his taste buds. That was, perhaps, the one good thing about being a Phantom Thief: free coffee. He’d probably miss that the most.

Niijima sat on the barstool next to Akechi, her legs crossed elegantly. She spoke calmly, but sternly. Sometimes, she seemed more the leader type than Amamiya did. Sometimes.

She made a few vague hand gestures, and Amamiya nodded in agreement. The other thieves were scattered throughout the cafe. Most of them were crouched against the benches in the booth, however a couple of them were standing. Morgana stood on top of the bar, right in between Amamiya and Niijima.

Akechi set his cup down. A familiar, but faint buzz coursed through his veins pleasantly, and he sighed in comfort. As long as he kept his emotions under control, everything would be fine. Besides, it wasn’t as if the others weren’t privy to making such mistakes. In the few days he had spent as a Phantom Thief, he had duly noted quite a few mistakes.

Okumura had accidentally dropped several plates and cups throughout Leblanc in attempt to test the limits  to her powers.

Kitagawa had attempted to freeze the nosy but harmless admin to the Phan-site. Twice. Both times on purpose.

Takamaki had nearly caused a fire after yelling at Sakamoto about something stupid he had said.

Sakamoto had knocked out the power in the attic upstairs quite a few times. He had also short circuited after completely overexerting himself, the dumbass. Didn’t he know his own limits?

The only one Akechi had yet to see slip up was Niijima. To no surprise, she had the most control of her powers. She may have even had better control than Akechi did. Interesting… no wonder the Phantom Thieves had made it so far.

Akechi sighed. His nerves twinged in excitement. Damn it… in retrospect, maybe Loki would have been better equipped for this. At least then he wouldn’t have to worry about nearly blinding half his temporary teammates. Or worse…

He reached for his coffee cup once more, only to be met with a loud _crack._ A flash of white hot light shot out through the tips of his fingers and filled the cafe with a blazing power. Instinctively, he squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face with an arm.

Just as quickly as it came, the light dispersed, taking out all the light with it.

The room went silent. All eyes were suddenly on Akechi. If someone were to drop a pin, the echo would have been heard.

Finally, Sakamoto spoke. “Dude. What the eff was that.”

Akechi’s cheeks flushed. _Dammit…_

“My apologies.” Akechi stammered. “That was my persona’s power.”

Amamiya cocked an eyebrow. “I mean… at least it wasn’t Ryuji who caused the power outage this time.” The corner of his mouth quirked into a somewhat half-smirk. Sakamoto made a noise of protest and nudged Amamiya in the side. Amamiya shoved him right back.

Niijima looked up at the ceiling, and at the freshly damaged lights. “Boss isn’t going to like that…”

Amamiya shrugged. “He’ll get over it. I’ll just tell him that it was an accident and that we’ll fix it.”

“My mistake. It slipped out.” Akechi took a deep breath in attempt to calm his racing heart. The last thing he needed was to trigger another flash of light. Or worse… he could accidentally follow it up with curse. They didn’t need that “horror movie-esque” aura. What had activated his powers in the first place…?

Amamiya clapped a hand on Akechi’s shoulder. “It’s no big deal; these things happen. At least you weren’t here when half of us destroyed the tv upstairs.” He chuckled softly.

Takamaki squeaked. “I told you watching _The Babadook_ was a bad idea.”

He waved her off, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Right…” Akechi ran a gloved hand through his hair. Weren’t his gloves supposed to _help_ prevent incidents like that? Well, light traveled, he supposed. Damn Robin Hood…

At that moment, the front door to Leblanc swung open. Sojiro entered the cafe, and all at once several emotions flashed across his face.

“What - what the _hell?!”_ he finally exclaimed.

Amamiya sighed. “A few things went wrong. Sorry about that. We--”

“Akechi did it.” Futaba spat. The first thing she had really said all evening, or so Akechi thought. She jerked a finger in his direction.

Sojiro made eye contact with Akechi. Akechi opened his mouth to stammer out another apology, but Sojiro beat him to it.

 _“Another one?_ Wasn’t seven of you enough?”

“Eight! There’s eight of us!” Morgana cried.

“Nah, we need an army’s worth of magic users.” Futaba said with a grin.

“That’s more than enough...” Niijima remarked as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Akechi bit the inside of his cheek sharply. _Talk about embarrassing…_  

In retrospect, it could have been worse. It could have been _much_ worse. He could have accidentally driven one of them to insanity. That one would have been much harder to explain. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice hissed at him, telling him that he should have done that instead. Akechi elected to ignore that side of him for the time being.

He breathed slowly through his nose and held his breath before releasing it. Soon enough, all traces of light and dark, curse and bless running rampant from within, began to settle down. The stress of his entire situation must have caused the sudden outburst, he reasoned. That, combined with the continued bickering of his two personas, and the desire to finally eliminate the sources of all his misfortune scratching somewhere in the back of his head, growing more and more violent with each passing day.

 _Soon,_ he thought. He’d get there soon.


	2. Sojiro Sakura Doesn't Get Paid Enough to Deal With All These Superpowered Kids

“It’s time!” Futaba cried as she barged upstairs. “IT’S TIME!”

The group looked up from their table where they had been discussing plans for bonding the group with the girl who was newly liberated by her Persona. A few of them had jumped at her proclamation as she interrupted the meeting, bouncing upstairs with a DVD case in her hands. There was a pause before Makoto spoke first.

“Time for what, Futaba-chan?”  
  
Futaba giggled. “Time,” she said giddily, “to be BABASHOOK!”

With that, she held up the case-- The Babadook. “I got a copy with Japanese subtitles,” she said cheerfully, “also, I hacked Netflix and moved the movie into the LGBT movies just for fun. I read the wikipedia article ‘cause it had a funny name and I wanna watch it!”

Ryuji grinned. “I’d be down to watch it. Sounds fun.”

Makoto frowned. “Are you sure you want to watch this, Futaba? It’s a horror movie…”  
  
The girl nodded eagerly. “Yeah! I’m fine, I’ve played Five Nights at Freddy’s and Amnesia before! I can handle this!”

Ann looked dubiously at the DVD case, while Yusuke merely eyed it curiously as he scratched his chin. “The… ‘Babadook’, you say it’s called? What an odd name. I wonder if it has some hidden meaning to be revealed from watching it…”

“I dunno…” Ann said anxiously. “I’m… admittedly easily spooked by horror movies.”

“You needn’t worry, Lady Ann,” Morgana piped up, “I’ll be here to comfort you.” He puffed out his chest proudly; Ryuji rolled his eyes, and Ann giggled and scratched under Morgana’s chin.

“I suppose that’s true.” she admitted.

“It’s fine,” Ren finally spoke up as he waved his hand, “if Futaba wants to watch it, we can just use my TV. Boss would probably be willing to let us make hot pot again up here, too, if you want.”  
  
Futaba paused for a moment before nodding. “Sounds good! I prefer curry, but Mona was telling me hot pot brings people closer together!”

“Right, well…” Ren stood. “Can some of you guys go get ingredients from the store? I’m gonna go get the pot. Futaba, can you set the movie up?”

Futaba saluted him as he went by and hurried to the DVD player while the others (sans Yusuke) went to hurry to the neighborhood market. Ren came back upstairs a moment later with the pot and made eye contact with Yusuke, who tapped a finger near the lower quarter of the the pot after the other boy set it down in the center of the table, prompting Futaba to stop and watch curiously.

The boys watched, both completely nonchalant, as ice began to fill the pot. Once it was a solid layer just below Yusuke’s finger, the boy extracted his hand. Ren rubbed his hands together and placed a flaming finger onto the ice, which melted quickly, leaving clean water at the bottom of the pot. Futaba was in awe, eyes glistening with excitement as she watched.

“Whoaaa…” she drawled. “I mean, I know about the powers and all, but I’m still getting used to it and-- that was _cool.”_

Ren shrugged, and Yusuke chuckled and spoke. “It seems that way at first, doesn’t it? Hard to believe how used to it all the rest of us have gotten. No doubt it will be the same, everyday occurence to you, too, once sufficient time passes.”

Futaba giggled. “This is just like _My Hero Acadamia_ … sort of. _So cool…”_

Soon enough, the others came back, and once the ingredients were added and the soup was finished and distributed, Futaba began the movie. For awhile, all was well; there were a few jumps and yelps from the others, but nothing more as they ate the soup and watched.

About halfway into the movie, Futaba paused it as Sojiro came upstairs to check on the group. The man was smiling wryly at his daughter. “Everything okay so far?”  
  
“Yeah!” Futaba held up her bowl. “Hot pot! Movies! Good times!”

Sojiro laughed. “Good to hear. Any of you kids need coffee?”

“Ooh! Me!” Futaba yelled eagerly. Ann raised a hand and giggled, as did Makoto, who smiled softly.

“If you don’t mind…” she asked politely.

“Me as well?” Yusuke added hopefully. Ryuji shrugged.

“Thanks, but I’m good.”

Ren slowly raised a hand in lieu of directly asking, and Sojiro nodded. “Sure thing.”

“Do you need help?” Ren asked, to which Sojiro waved him off.

“You stay up here. I’ve got a tray to bring up the cups.”

Ren smiled. “Thank you, Boss.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With that, Sojiro went back downstairs. As the others watched, a particularly intense scene began, and the others silenced. All was tense, but well until it happened.

In an instant, the monster jumped out of nowhere on the screen. Screeches came, and with it, flashes of electricity, fire, nuclear energy, and ice followed. Futaba let out a scream as she jumped onto Ren and activated a protective bubble on instinct, and for a moment, Ren couldn’t see past the smoke around the bubble.

When the dust settled, Ren saw through the shield the smoking, sparking, and simultaneously frozen ashy remains of his TV. The others were all staring, wide-eyed, in the direction of the stairs; Ren and Futaba followed their gazes to the stairwell, where Sojiro stood, shaking, tray on the ground with spilled coffee and broken cups.

Futaba deactivated the shield and opened and closed her mouth helplessly, bewildered as Sojiro sputtered in disbelief. The air reeked of smoke and soot that Ren only detected once the force field was down. A long silence fell over the room, punctuated only by crackling from the ruins of the TV.

“What,” Sojiro finally croaked out hoarsely, “the _hell_ was _that?”_

“I can explain!” Makoto, Ren, and Futaba cried at once, while Yusuke, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana remained silent, staring in horror at Sojiro. Sojiro scowled.

“Can you?”

Another silence passed. Finally, Futaba ran behind Ren and pushed him forward. “G- Go on, Ren.” she urged. “Explain to him.”

“I…”  
  
“Don’t bother trying to hide any of the details,” Morgana sighed, “it’s too late. He’s seen too much.”

Ren looked over to the others, who stared silently and guiltily at him. Sojiro cleared his throat and glared at him, arms crossed. The leader grit his teeth and did his best to explain every detail and the whole story behind them, about their powers and their Personas. The details of their Personas necessitated delving into their secret as Phantom Thieves, and Ren felt like running into a hole and dying the whole time. The others fared little better, cringing as well as they stayed in place silently and didn’t meet Sojiro’s eyes.

Sojiro didn’t say anything at all during the story. His brows lifted now and then, and he glanced over the group-- especially Futaba-- repeatedly. When Ren was done, another silence fell over the group.

Finally, Sojiro let out a groan and ran a hand over his face. “I need to… digest this.” he finally uttered weakly. “I’m trusting you kids to clean up after yourselves and the… mess you made. I’m going to close up shop and go home. Try not to… break anything else on your way out.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left. The others shared a look and quietly helped Ren clean up; while they did so, Futaba looked up a replacement TV with a DVD player and ordered it with team funds, and once everything was said and done, the group awkwardly dispersed. There was little talk in person or by chat at all that night; when Ren awoke the next morning, the group chat, flustered, was worrying about whether or not Boss would turn them in.

Ren rebuffed the concerns, stating he trusted Boss, though he felt his will waver as he went downstairs for breakfast. Sojiro looked at him quickly and looked away. He put down a plate of curry for him when he sat down; the man side-eyed him now and again and sighed to himself wearily, shaking his head all the while. It twisted something in Ren’s gut that he didn’t like, but fearing being kicked out, he didn’t say a word and avoided Sojiro as much as Sojiro avoided him and the others.

Futaba was beside herself, but with effort, the girls coaxed her out of her room to go shopping for a swim suit the day before they had planned to go to the beach, which as far as they were concerned, was still on. When the morning came to go to the beach, Futaba showed up early at Leblanc with her belongings and asked to hang out upstairs with him until it was time to leave, which Ren acquiesced to.

She was helping him set up his new TV and chattering about its features eagerly when Sojiro came upstairs. The two teens froze and stared at him, bewildered. After another moment’s silence, he sighed, and spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

The two shared a look before looking back at him. “Beg pardon?” Ren asked. Sojiro sighed again and scratched the back of his neck.

“I could have… reacted better and acted less avoidant towards you kids, and I’m sorry.” he apologized. “I was just so shaken by it all, not that it’s much of an excuse. If… this... is a side effect of letting Futaba live freely again, then… I’m okay with it.”

Futaba’s eyes widened, glistening with tears. “Sojiro…”  
  
“What you kids have is…” He paused and ran a hand over his head as he sought out the words. “... frightening and amazing in equal measure, but I’ll learn to adjust to it, with time. I’ll do my best to support you all.” The man laughed weakly. “Besides, you all are pretty damn pathetic at controlling yourselves. I guess you need all the help you can get.”  
  
“Hey,” Ren protested, “we kept it from you this long.”

“Amazingly, considering the fact you all damn-near destroyed my attic because of a scary movie.” Sojiro replied dryly. “This explains all the burn marks on the walls and floors in the attic and the constant power outages… those two blonds need to control themselves more carefully in my cafe. Especially the electric one. And _you.”_  
  
“Me?” Ren questioned, befuddled. Sojiro nodded.

“Yes, _you._ Apparently, you can do… pretty much anything the others can do. Try to keep it contained, especially when you’re downstairs, got it? Can’t have customers see anything weird. If any of you kids make another mess, you’re cleaning it up. Also, horror movies are effectively banned for you kids from being seen, in my house, in this attic, or in theaters. We clear?”

Ren smiled. “Crystal clear.”

“Good.” Sojiro shook his head. “Then there’s also this Phantom Thief business we need to talk about. Are you kids out of your minds?”

“We’re the good guys.” Futaba said proudly, and Ren smiled softly at her. Sojiro paused, sighed again, and shook his head.

“We’ll have another chat about that later-- just keep your heads down and enjoy your day at the beach.” He frowned. “And no showing off. _At all._ I don’t wanna hear of anyone using their powers at all at the beach, by accident or on purpose. If there’s something weird going on or someone trying to bother you, run the other way before you lose control. Even if you think you won’t, walk the other way.” He waved a hand. “Now, come downstairs and eat before you go.” The man sighed audibly. “Christ, what have I gotten myself into, taking in all these superpowered kids…?”

Ren offered a wry smile. “Who can say?”

* * *

 

Time passed with little incident. Summer ended, school started up again, the Phantom Thieves’ popularity had increased to an almost unthinkable high. Then came the incident with Okumura.

Morgana had stormed out of the attic, loudly proclaiming that he was going to change Okumura’s heart himself. In the process, he purposely knocked over several items from Ren’s shelf using wind powers. A few of them were hurled at Ryuji, who managed to dodge most of them.

All the while, the others just sat back and watched. No one was quite sure what to say or do. At some point, Futaba had thrown a force field around herself. She sat huddled in the corner, shaking violently. She made a noise somewhere between a squeak and a groan.

Makoto was the first to speak. She stood and cleared her throat. “Okay, well. That didn’t go too well. It’s okay, come tomorrow we’ll figure something else out.”

"We can’t let Morgana go in there alone.” Ann snapped. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. A blanket of smoke curled around her.

“Relax, he’ll prolly be back when he gets hungry.” Ryuji grumbled; anger and venom tinged his words. Static weaved around him, pushing his hair up into angry pinpricks. “He’s all talk and no action.”

Ann lightly punched him in the shoulder. He yelped.

Shortly after, the team awkwardly dispersed. Ren and Futaba remained in the attic, alone. Futaba let down her force field. “Mona will be back, right?”

Ren nodded. “Most likely. Give it until tomorrow morning.”

She nodded back and stood up shakily. “R-right…” She wobbled a bit, but forced herself to approach the stairwell. “I guess I’ll see you t-tomorrow. Goodnight, Ren.”

It wasn’t for another few days where they finally located Morgana inside Okumura’s palace. Accompanying him was a woman who deemed herself the “Beauty Thief.” As soon as the shadows showed up, the two of them scrambled out of the palace. A long search within the school records discovered her real name was Haru Okumura, daughter of Kunikazu Okumura-- the man atop the request board on the Phansite.

Everything else passed in a blur. The Mementos stakeout, Haru’s abusive fiance, her temporary addition to the Phantom Thieves, her full awakening… Haru was absolutely ruthless. Kind, yes, but completely ruthless.

With her awakening came her powers. Psychokinetic powers were a headache to deal with… literally.

After a long day of palace exploration, the group had wound up in Leblanc. The shop had closed for the night, but Sojiro allowed the eight of them to hang around downstairs for a little while. So long as nothing burned, frozen, short circuited, exploded or was blown away, it was fine.

Ren set a cup of coffee in front of Haru. “Here. You look like you could use this.”

She offered a tired smile. “Thank you.” She pressed one hand pressed against her forehead, and with the other, she lifted the teacup and brought it to her lips.

“Headache?” He asked. She nodded slowly. “Psychokinetic, right? It’s a lot to deal with. Once you learn your limits, it gets easier. It’s just about discovering what you’re fully capable of.”

Haru set down the cup. “I’m still trying to learn to properly control my powers.”

“That sort of thing takes time. Ryuji’s still trying to learn full control, and aside from Morgana and myself, he’s had his powers the longest.” He gently rested his hand on Haru’s wrist. “Psychokinetic took me the longest to understand, and even now I still have a hard time with it.”

Haru giggled. “It’s reassuring to learn there’s someone in the same boat as me. Maybe we can learn control together.”

“Yeah. Together.”

The group dispersed shortly after. The next day they all gathered at Leblanc once more.

“I want,” Haru started before Ren could activate the app, “to practice a little bit. I want to be a little more prepared before I go in.”

There were shared looks, then nods. Yusuke pushed yet another empty jagariko cup towards her on the table they had gathered around in the attic. “Start with this,” he said, “it is light and will not damage anything. Perhaps Ren should give you a demonstration, too.”

Her eyes looked up to Ren hopefully. “Would you mind?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. Just give me a minute…” He closed his eyes and hung his head, focusing, and after a few seconds, he picked his head up again, nodding to himself. He focused on the jagariko cup and lifted his gaze, and with it came the cup. He held it in midair for a few moments before lowering his gaze to the table, where it landed neatly and silently. The others smiled and Ryuji patted Haru’s shoulder briefly with a grin.

She smiled back weakly and focused intensely on the cup. With her gaze, she lifted it, and held it in midair for a few moments. It held only a moment, however, before flying off towards the television. She screamed as it crashed into the TV; the screen was undamaged, and the cup fell to the ground. Haru covered her mouth as her face reddened.

“I’m so sorry!” she cried. “I didn’t mean to--”  
  
“It’s fine,” Morgana reassured, “nothing was damaged and no one is hurt. Better than Joker’s first attempt at psychokinesis.”

Ren flushed and shoved Morgana, who shoved him with a paw right back. Everyone froze as fast footsteps came, and Sojiro appeared in the stairwell, eyes wide with panic. He stared at the group, and at Haru, and he paled. “Okumura-chan? Are you alright? Did they hurt you?”  
  
“No, Sakura-san!” Haru cried, pulling her hands away from her face. “Just a… mishap with psychokinesis is all…”

Sojiro’s brows lifted for the briefest of moments before his eyes flew to Ren, and he scowled. “Damn it, Kid, you know better than to show off like that! What if--”

“It wasn’t him,” Haru explained awkwardly, her face completely red, “it… it was me. I’m sorry.”

For emphasis, she turned her gaze back to the cup on the ground and lifted it up and back onto the table with a stare. Haru looked away from Sojiro, ashamed, as he gawked. Finally, after a pause, the man let out a long sigh.

 _“Another_ one?”


	3. Makoto Gets Called Out

Waiting was nerve-wracking.

Waiting to find out if the leader, her friend, was still alive was nerve-wracking. Waiting to find out how her sister would react to finding out about her powers was nerve-wracking. It had been hours, and Makoto had run through a dozen scenarios in her head of what it might be like to have her big sister know about her powers.

Telling her little sister to leave. Avoiding her sister for days on end like Sojiro had, or longer. Pretending like her powers didn’t exist at all. Pulling her out of school to ensure her abilities stayed hidden. Keeping her on a short leash. Some scenarios were more ridiculous than others, but she kept worrying anyways.

At some point, Haru had suggested they study-- they had quizzes the following week and they needed to be prepared. With everything that was happening, Makoto had, for one rare instance, neglected her academic studies to ensure their plan would succeed. Haru had also pointed out that it might help her keep her mind on something else, and Makoto finally agreed.

She wasn’t sure what time it was by the time she and Haru closed their textbooks, feeling prepared after several hours of studying. The sky had gone dark out, and after calling an order for pizza delivery, Haru came back to find Makoto staring vacantly at her textbook cover, eyes tired and dark.

“Mako-chan,” Haru said softly, “I’m coming back.”

“Okay.” Makoto muttered in response. The team had gotten into the habit of quietly telling each other when they were moving in if they felt they might surprise another teammate; such surprises were liable to cause an… _accident_. At some point, it became second nature.

Haru placed herself next to Makoto on the couch, who didn’t look up at the other girl. After a moment’s pause, Haru spoke. “Mako-chan,” she started, “do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s alright.” she reassured weakly. “Ren-kun will live. I know it.”

“I know, and I agree, but that’s not the only thing that’s bothering you, is it?”

Makoto sighed and hung her head. “What if Sis doesn’t like…” She held a hand up and summoned a small, bright ball of nuclear magic for a few seconds, then waved it away. “... _this?”_

Haru smiled and patted Makoto’s shoulder. “I’m sure Sae-san will love you no matter what, Mako-chan. I understand why you’re nervous, but… she _does_ care about you. This won’t change that.”

“What if she reacts like Boss did?” Makoto questioned worriedly, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Haru paused and sighed.

“If she does… you can come stay with me until she comes around, which I’m sure she’ll do.” Haru reached out and took Makoto’s hand into hers and squeezed it gently, prompting Makoto to meet her eyes. Haru smiled reassuringly. “I promise.”

Makoto stared at her for a moment, sighed, and managed a weak smile. “Okay.”

Haru glanced at the book-- a thick, worn mathematics textbook-- in Makoto’s lap as she pulled her hand away, and she frowned. “I hope you’re not planning to study even more until Sae-san or the pizza gets here. We’ve been studying for hours.”

The other girl shrugged and picked the book up, staring at it. “It helps get my mind off of things. Like what she’ll say to me when she comes through the door--”  
  
**_“YOU!”_**

Both girls yelped in surprise at the sound of the door being thrust open and Sae’s heels clicking against the floor, combined with her disgruntled yell. The book in Makoto’s hands exploded violently as she shrieked, and she quickly stood to stamp out resulting embers with her heel. Her cheeks reddened powerfully as she turned to face her sister, who was staring at her with an unimpressed stare before speaking.

“ _YOU’RE_ the reason the apartment building got evacuated at one in the morning!”

Makoto and Haru froze. Haru looked between the women, eyes widening. “W- what?”  
  
“Didn’t she tell you?” Sae grouched. “When she got her… _powers_ , she blew up a book in her room and made me think someone had planted a bomb in our apartment, but no!” She scowled. “It was just you, Makoto!”

Makoto gawked at her sister, jaw dropped, as Haru began to giggle softly. The other girl shook as laughter overtook her, and she covered her mouth as she fought it back. Makoto’s face only reddened further at the sight of Haru fighting as she fell to the couch and wheezed into her hands. Finally, Makoto looked up to her sister sheepishly. “I… I’m sorry.” She hung her head and rubbed her arm ruefully. “I… didn’t mean to, and I was…” She sighed and looked back up to her sister. “You don’t… mind my powers?”

Sae shook her head. “No, Makoto. I don’t.” She walked forward, around the couch, and up to her sister, minding the ash pile. The two stared at each other for a moment of silence before Sae reached out and ruffled Makoto’s hair, and the girl smiled weakly. Sae sighed. “It’s… a lot to take in, I admit, but... I love you no matter what. I’m just sorry that you couldn’t tell me sooner.”  She frowned as she pulled her hand back and gestured to the smouldering ashes on the carpet. “That being said… look at the mess you just made!”

“... I’m sorry.” Makoto apologized meekly again as she hugged herself anxiously. Sae didn’t reply for a moment, then sighed.

“I suppose that one was my fault… I _did_ startle you, but in any case, I’m laying down ground rules.” She put her hands on her hips. “No using your powers on purpose in the apartment. If you make a mess with them, you clean it up. And-- do you practice?”

“We do,” Haru spoke up, still giggly from her laughing fit as she stood back up from the couch, “three times a week behind the school.”

Sae scowled. “ _There?_ At _school? Far_ too open. Too easy to be seen… as my sister would know.” Makoto hung her head as Sae sighed. “I’ll find a better, more secure location for you all, and I want you to practice at least four times a week for an hour, minimum. More the better.”

Haru nodded. “I have a big apartment, Sae-san. I should be able to find private space in there to devote to our power practice.”

“That will do; thank you.” Sae said as she crossed her arms. “And finally, the most important rule of all: by no means will any of you _ever_ try to become vigilantes. I won’t stop you from being Phantom Thieves, but I NEVER want to hear of any of you trying to become superheroes in the real world. Do you understand me?”

Haru and Makoto nodded meekly at Sae, who nodded back. “Good. I’ll be bringing this up at the meeting tomorrow at Leblanc. Your powers are… useful, yes, but there will be no vigilantism on my watch.” She looked up and scanned the apartment, then sighed, scratching her head. “Good God, I need to get more fire extinguishers. Accidents are bound to happen…”

Haru giggled as Makoto reddened again. She moaned. “Sis… these are the only two times I’ve messed up in the apartment…”

Sae shook her head. “Thus far…” She scowled. “And that we know of.”

Makoto groaned.

* * *

When Makoto went to the meeting at Leblanc the next day, Sae in tow to meet with the others as they waited for Ren to come, Ryuji, Ann, Haru, and Futaba began snickering at the sight of her and hid it poorly behind their hands or in Futaba’s case, her laptop screen. Morgana gave her a sympathetic smile, and Yusuke just glanced at her entrance, then went back to staring at his hands as he waited for the leader.

Futaba had heard the whole exchange the previous night from Sae’s phone, and the story spread quickly. Everyone in the group chat collectively lost their shit, save for Yusuke, Morgana, Makoto, and Ren, who was at the moment… preoccupied, but no doubt he, too, would laugh at her misfortune when he saw the group chat later.

“So…” Ryuji drawled smugly, to which Makoto scowled.  
  
“Not. A. Word.”

Ann and Futaba tittered, and Ryuji’s lips twisted as he fought back laughter. Yusuke scowled and looked up.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” he scolded, “every single one of us has made mistakes and you all know it. That’s just part of having these powers of ours.”

“It’s funny because Queen here prided herself on never messing up.” Futaba pointed out. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen…”

Makoto groaned. “Do you all have to rub it in like that?”

“Yes.”

Everyone turned to see their battered but smiling leader walk in. At the sight of Makoto, his lips twisted into one of his cocky smirks, lighting up the bruises on his face. She scowled.

“Screw you, too, Ren.”


	4. Practice Makes Perfect, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgana starts training the Phantom Thieves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first part of what will be a series of chapters around mishaps of the squad trying to learn to control their powers.

“So… how was your first night with powers, Ryuji?”

“I blew out the power in my apartment building and broke my lamp, but thanks for asking. How are you doing? I doubt any better.”

“Hey… I’ve had my powers for longer than you.”

“You’ve only had your powers a day longer than me, idiot.”

The two boys had gathered on the rooftop, both exhausted, anxious, and shaky. Aside from their fruitless investigation of Kamoshida, the two struggled with their new powers. That day alone, Ryuji knocked out the power during the volleyball game upon seeing Kamoshida spike a ball in Mishima’s face, and though no one save Ren knew it was him, the boy had gone beet red upon plunging the school into darkness.

Ren fared no better. He struggled to fight back the wave of dark energy that curled under his skin and danced along his nerves whenever he heard one of many nasty rumors about him. Ryuji encouraged him to breathe and fight it back, but every so often, Ren came close to revealing his poorly-controlled abilities.

The two stuck closely together despite not being in the same class, “spotting each other so we don’t eff up in front of people,” as Ryuji had put it. While it helped each others’ nerves to know neither was alone, the newness of it all made life at school far more difficult.

Ren sighed and shrugged. “Touché. I made some customers at the cafe I live above think the cafe is haunted and I accidentally took out the lights in my room.”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “Oh, man… what’d the customers do?”

Ren scoffed. “They thought it was interesting and suggested that some ghost investigators should go over there to check it out. My guardian didn’t suspect it was me, thankfully, and he shrugged it off. He thinks it was just their imagination, but he was making sort of a weird face.”

The other boy laughed weakly, sighed, and shook his head. “What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?” he moaned. “How are we going to keep this up? Keeping this shit a secret is _exhausting.”_

“I don’t know, man.” Ren replied dryly. “We’ll… get used to it. Probably. And we’ll get better at hiding it.” He sighed. “I wish that we hadn’t ditched Morgana… maybe he could help us.”

“Ehh…” Ryuji huffed. “I don’t wanna go look for him and ask him to teach us. He’ll be all smug.”

“It’s that or be hopeless wrecks for several months while we figure it out on our own.”

Ryuji’s nose wrinkled, and he pouted. “It’s not like we can keep a weird monster cat hidden, even if he had tagged along to teach us.”

_“I am NOT a cat!”_

The boys jumped from their folding chairs, looking around for the source of the voice. “Morgana?” Ren questioned. “Are you here?”

Someone whistled at them from above, and both looked up to see a black and white cat with distinctive blue eyes peering down at them from atop one of the HVACs. Before either could say anything, the cat launched himself from the edge and instead of falling down like a stone, a powerful gust of wind kicked up beneath him, and the boys watched in awe as he carefully glided down, curving to face the boys, and landed elegantly before the two. The cat stretched, front to back, and smiled smugly.

“Regretting abandoning me, are you?”

The boys jerked back at the sound of a very familiar voice coming from the cat. “M- Morgana?!” Ryuji gasped. “You’re-- you’re a cat! And you’re talking! What the ef--”

“I am _NOT_ a cat! I already said that!” Morgana scolded, his ears pinned back and his tail swishing with frustration. “It was an awful lot of trouble finding you two. It looks like I found you right when you realize you need me.” He sat and scratched an ear. “Thankfully for you two, I’m very forgiving. I’m willing to teach you two to control your powers, if you’ll agree to help me. I’ll even also tell you how you could handle Kamoshida…”

“How’s that?” Ren questioned, and Morgana’s tail waved back and forth idly.

“Interested? You’re not having much luck asking around, are you? Maybe it’s time you go for another approach.”

Ryuji scowled. “You were spyin’ on us?”

“Don’t give me that.” Morgana snapped. “I needed to see what your plan was, and evidently, neither of you have a good one beyond trying to convince someone to spill the beans.”

The door to the roof creaked, and all three froze as the door was pushed open. Ann Takamaki, fresh out of her PE clothes and into her uniform, peered at them from the doorway with a frown. Her eyes widened as she looked at Morgana, who froze up and stared at her.

“Takamaki? What are you doing up here?” Ryuji questioned, scowling. “We already got your speech about no one helping us earlier. We don’t need to hear it again.”

Takamaki scoffed. “There’s been rumors about you two, you know. You both keep coming up here whenever there’s a break. I thought I’d come see what you’re up to.” She looked down at the cat and smiled softly. “I also heard meowing, so I had to see the cat.”

“Meowing…?” Ren muttered to himself. Morgana nodded, a dreamy look in his eyes.

“You two are the only ones who can understand me, because you heard me in the Metaverse. This beautiful girl, unfortunately, has not heard my real voice.” He stood up and approached Ann as she walked forward, and he weaved himself around her ankles. She giggled and reached down to pet him.

“Aww, what a sweetheart! He’s so cute!” She looked up at them. “Does he belong to either of you?”

“I don’t belong to anyone!” Morgana protested, though no one paid him any mind. Ryuji nodded and slapped Ren’s back.

“Yeah, he’s Amamiya’s cat!”

Ren blinked at Ryuji. “Wha--”

“Tell her.” Ryuji urged. Ren stared at him before exhaling and turning to Takamaki.

“... That’s right. He’s... my therapy cat.”

“Therapy cat?” she questioned. Ren sighed.

“Yeah, um… I have… _trauma._ And bad anxiety. So he hangs out with me and helps keep me calm. He normally hangs out in my bag.” he lied quickly. Ann, thankfully, just nodded, then sighed, as she stood up.

“I’m glad to hear you have _adorable_ help, but your investigation of Kamoshida isn’t going to help anyone-- least of all, you.” She crossed her arms. “I know you’re mad about him leaking your record, and I know why _you’re_ mad at him, Sakamoto-kun, but you need to move on. You’ll both graduate and we can all forget about Kamoshida.”

Before Ren could speak, Ryuji was scowling. Faint sparks of electricity weaved between his fingers, and Ren cringed as he noticed. “You don’t know nothin’, Takamaki,” Ryuji snapped, “if you’re really okay with letting what he’s doing go unpunished. If you ain’t gonna help-- mind your own business. Amamiya and I aren’t backing down.”

Ann stared at the boys for a few moments. Finally, she sighed, reached down to scratch Morgana’s ear once more time, and turned on her heel, leaving without another word. As soon as she was out of earshot, Ren scowled at Ryuji. “Dude,” he hissed, “your hands.”

Ryuji looked down and yelped. He exhaled and inhaled deeply, and within a few seconds, the sparks dissipated. He groaned. “We’re lucky Takamaki didn’t see.”

“You have no idea.” Morgana snapped, turning to the boys. “Can you really go on like this, untrained and undisciplined? Your powers are a permanent part of both of you, and you need someone to teach you to control yourselves. I’m your man.” He walked forward and smiled. “All you have to do is agree to help me; this will be a mutually beneficial relationship.”

The boys shared a look, a silent conversation going on between them. Finally, Ryuji groaned and bowed his head, and Ren returned his attention to Morgana.

“Give us the details,” he said firmly, “about what you need help with… and Kamoshida.”

Morgana grinned. “You’ve both made a wise decision. Now… listen well. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

* * *

A few days and one Awakening later, Ann found herself joining the boys on the rooftop. She was hugging herself nervously, with slightly singed corners of her clothes, and Morgana smiled reassuringly. “It’s alright, Lady Ann,” he said, “I know it’s all very new to you, but we have a way to deal with Kamoshida, and I’ll now be teaching the three of you.”

Ann groaned and rubbed her arms ruefully. “The past day has been awful,” she griped, “I set fire to one of my favorite shirts last night and almost burned my desk today!"

“That would explain the fire alarm goin’ off.” Ryuji remarked dryly. Ann glared at him.

“You’re not any better. How many times now this week have you blown out the power?”

_"Hey!”_

“And don’t think I didn’t see those sparks around your hands the last time I was up here,” she scoffed, “I thought it was a trick of the light at the time, but now I know better.”

Ryuji reddened and sputtered. Ren sighed loudly. “That’s enough,” he huffed, “we need to deal with Kamoshida and figure out where we’re going to practice. We don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention.”

The other boy nodded. “Oh, right, this is your first day with more than one Persona,” Ryuji remarked, “how’s that treating you?”

Ren groaned. “I’m having trouble controlling what powers I’m using, but I guess it could be worse…”

“I assure you that the drawbacks you’re experiencing now with having multiple Personas will be well worth the effort it takes to learn to control all of their powers.” Morgana said calmly. “It will be the most difficult for you-- there’s no getting around that-- but you’re being presented with a prime opportunity, one that could benefit the whole team, so it’s not only in your best interest to learn multiple power types-- it’s your responsibility to the team.”

“Ease off him,” Ryuji huffed, “I don’t got a problem with him focusing on just a couple until he gets used to it.”

“Just be careful, alright?” Ann agreed, frowning. “At least it’s you and not Ryuji who can do this…”

_“HEY!”_

“Right,” Ren sighed, “okay. Well. On today’s agenda is figuring out a place to practice and getting prepared to infiltrate Kamoshida’s Palace. First on the agenda…” He paused. “... Anyone have any ideas?”

Morgana nodded. “I’ve been canvassing the area. It’s not perfect, but I think I found a secretive corner behind the school that’s difficult to get to-- you have to walk all around the outside of the school to get to it-- but there’s no windows leading directly to the spot, and we have ample time to cease what we’re doing if we think someone is approaching. Furthermore, it’s all concrete, so you’ll be able to practice freely without worrying about starting a fire or hurting someone.”

The team shared uncertain looks, and Morgana huffed. “Does anyone have a better idea?” No one responded, and Morgana smiled. “That’s what I thought. Now, Joker and I have business to take care of in Yongen. You two--”

“I have business to take care of today,” Ann said apologetically, “I’m sorry to do this, but are you guys okay with preparing for the Palace?”

“We’re good,” Ren reassured, “take care, Ann.”

“You too, Amamiya-kun. _Especially_ you.” She sighed. “I can’t imagine having to balance all of what you have to…”

* * *

With some struggling, the group got through Kamoshida’s Palace and successfully stole its treasure. They were unpracticed and sloppy from being rushed and new at the job, but it had been a successful mission. With that out of the way and Kamoshida on personal leave as soon as the day after they took the treasure, Morgana took the teens to the back of the school, to the secluded corner he had told them about.

It was an odd little corner that had a fire escape hanging over it, with a ladder that could be climbed to reach the upper floor of the building. While the others had voiced concerns, Morgana judged it was rare for anyone to be using the escape, and that they were still reasonable hidden against the back of the building. Opposite of it was a brick fence covered in ivy that separated the school grounds from the rest of Tokyo, and a number of large hedges lined the area.

It wasn’t perfect, but it would do.

“Right,” Morgana started, pacing before the three teenagers as he looked up at them, “welcome to boot camp. You’ve all had some experience in the Palace, but using your powers in the Metaverse is easier than the real world. You’re all still very new and untrained, and if you’re going to effectively use and hide your powers, you’re going to have to practice. That’s why we’re here.”

“So what’s first?” Ann questioned. Morgana’s tail flicked.

“I had Joker print out some targets to use for practice. It’s not much-- just pieces of paper with targets on them we’ll tape to the walls-- but it’s what we have with our budget. After we set those up, I’m going to have all of you try to hit the bullseye as best you can. You’ll all wait for my signal.”

“What about our physical abilities?” Ryuji complained, bouncing a foot up and down. “We can run super fast, lift _a lot_ , and jump really high. Ain’t we gonna practice those?”

Morgana’s tail swished impatiently as he shook his head. “One thing at a time, Skull,” he said, “your magic abilities should be honed first, as they have the most destructive potential, and this isn’t the best place to be practicing your physical abilities-- you can’t run around the school or jump around without being caught, and we don’t have the money for expensive weights right now.”

Ryuji grumbled, but didn’t protest further. Ren sheepishly raised a hand, and Morgana’s ears pricked up as he nodded. Joker hugged himself. “Uh… what power should I be using for target practice? I can do several…”

Morgana nodded. “Good question. You’re managing yourself pretty well in the Metaverse with most of them, but for now, let’s start with Curse. That’s your original Persona’s power, and your foremost. It shouldn’t be an overly difficult one to start with as a result.” He sighed and sat down. “Your power gives you the biggest boon as well as the biggest drawback. To minimize damages, you’re going to have to work the hardest of any of us to master all of the elements.”

Ren’s lips twitched upward. “So you’re saying I’m the Avatar?”

Morgana blinked. “... What?”

“It’s a reference to an American cartoon.” Ann giggled. Ryuji snickered and nudged Ren, who smiled wryly and nudged him back. Morgana huffed and nodded at the wall; Ren nodded and moved to tape the targets to the wall. Meanwhile, Ryuji bounced from one foot to the other, and Ann sat on the opposite side on the corner of the concrete, glancing over a notebook briefly before setting it down. The two stood at attention as Ren stepped away from the targets.

“Alright,” Morgana started, “we should be doing this one at a time; eventually, you should be able to do target practice standing closer to each other, but just in case…” His eyes looked over the group. “Alright, you first, Ryuji.”

Ryuji nodded and placed himself opposite of the targets, while the others stepped off to the side to the grass. Morgana looked between Ryuji and the papers. “Okay,” he started, “I’m going to have you start with something simple: a controlled shot at the center target.”

“Alright.” Ryuji said as he closed his eyes and pulled his blazer off, tossing it aside so as not to burn it. He breathed carefully, and bright, white electricity began to dance along his hands and arms. He cracked open his eyes and held his arms out, looking upon them as they crackled loudly. Morgana nodded.

“Good. Okay, on my call…” He paused and slapped a paw on the ground. “Go!”

Ryuji unleashed his power. Two separate shots of electricity flew forward from his hands, and he yelped as he fell backwards onto his rear, the shots crashing above the targets with an audible crack, leaving two separate blackened impact marks on the concrete. Ryuji reddened and pushed himself up, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

“Uh… sorry.”

Morgana’s tail swished. “Not terrible, for a first try. You need to plant your feet and arms, though, and hold your palms together so you don’t shoot in two separate directions. Electricity is high-energy and can be difficult to aim properly, with high potential for friendly fire, but you did well by pointing your arms up, rather than flailing and striking anything else.” He smiled. “Overall, could be better, but it’s a good start.”

“Thanks.” Ryuji turned to look at Ann. “You up next, Ann?”

Ann nodded, and the two passed each other, Ryuji taking her place by Ren as she took his place on the stage. Her eyes focused ahead at the targets; she planted her feet carefully and summoned forth fire, which she held in anticipation in her hands, which she pressed together, clasping them together. Smoke began to rise from her hands.

“Alright,” Morgana said, “focus yourself. Mentally picture how much fire you want to unleash and push your nerves to produce just the right amount, then aim at the center target and fire.”

“O-- Okay.” Ann closed her eyes, inhaled carefully, and focused her eyes on the targets. She opened her clasped hands and sent forth a powerful fiery stream that, quick as a flash, jumped forward and spread over all three targets, burning them to ashes and left a scorched surface beneath them upon the concrete. Ann’s eyes widened, and as she stopped the stream and waved her smoky hands, a spark flew off one of her fingertips and onto the grass, sparking a fire.

Ryuji and Ren jumped back, and Ann yelped. Morgana moved quickly and stomped his paws up and down a foot away from the flames, summoning a powerful gust of wind that set out the fire as quickly as it started, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Ann was bright red in the face as she spoke.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s fine. This sort of accident is to be expected.” Morgana sat and examined the scorched earth. “So, again, not terrible, but a few things. You used way more power and way more of a push on your magic than you needed to, hence burning all of the targets, but you kept your footing perfectly, Lady Ann.” He sat and sighed. “The other thing is that you can’t wave your hands like that when the smoke is still curling around your hands-- you’re liable to throw sparks like you just did. The embers will settle quickly on their own if you just hold your hands out or douse them in water.”

“Okay.” Ann squeaked, bright red. She turned to Ren and frowned. “What about him? I just burned all of our targets…”

Morgana eyed her notebook and looked up to her. “Can you spare a piece of paper?” he questioned. She nodded and knelt down, pulling a page from her notebook. Instead of taping it to the wall, Morgana had Ryuji pick up a rock to weigh it down on the ground, and up Ren went. The boy stared apprehensively at the paper.

“Curse magic will probably be a little more intuitive to you than others due to it being your first magic ability.” Morgana explained, grabbing his attention. “It’s less widely destructive than fire or electricity, but it can plunge a room into darkness and take out the lights, which is useful for stealth, and if used offensively, can disintegrate enemies and cause them pain, as you’ve seen using Arsene.” He nodded at the paper. “I want you to focus like they did and disintegrate this piece of paper. We’ll practice the whole ‘plunging a room into darkness’ thing another time in the attic when Boss isn’t there.”

“Okay.” Ren closed his eyes and summoned forth dark energy that curled around his hands. Ryuji and Ann shivered at its presence.

“Why does it feel so effin’ creepy?” Ryuji questioned. Morgana shrugged.

“You’ll get used to it. It’s just what curse energy does-- it’s an effective deterrent as a result. Probably sort of like anti-mosquito spray or what garlic would be to a vampire, if they existed.”

The leader’s face reddened. “Don’t phrase it like that! That’s embarrassing…”

“It’s not embarrassing! It’s a useful power and you should be proud!” Morgana reassured. Ren groaned, inhaled and exhaled, and pushed the tingly sensation in his fingers-- only to yelp as his world suddenly went black, and the tingly sensation spread all over his body. Though it was somewhat muffled, he heard Ryuji and Ann’s cries of surprise as well.

“The hell?!” Ryuji yelped.

“What happened to him?!” Ann cried.

“Don’t panic,” Morgana spoke up, “this is just a side effect of his emotions-- he’s embarrassed, so his dark energy surrounded him sort of like a shroud. Can you hear me, Joker?”

“Yes,” Ren cried, “how do I make it stop?!”

“Take some deep breaths,” Morgana said, "and focus your energy towards that piece of paper on the ground. Remain calm. Being calm is key. You don’t have to be embarrassed-- no one here is judging you.”

“I think everyone’s a little embarrassed, dude, all of us sort of suck at this superpower stuff,” Ryuji’s voice came in the darkness, “it’s okay. I promise.”

“Breathe.” Ann encouraged, and with that, Ren breathed, in and out, and pushed his energy outward. Outward it flew-- light and vision returned to him as it dissipated, leaving a pile of dark ash on the ground where the paper was. He smiled weakly until he heard Ann shriek.

_“My notebook!”_

Ren turned on his heel and saw that, inadvertently, he had burned the notebook Ann had left on the corner of the concrete. His cheeks reddened as she hurried forward to kneel down and stare forlornly at the ashy remains of her notebook. Ryuji snickered, and she turned to glare at him.

 _"I am_ _so sorry,”_ Ren sheepishly apologized, “I didn’t mean to, I--”

“It’s… it’s okay.” Ann sighed. “It’s my fault for leaving it there… but those were my notes for math class. What am I going to do?”

Ryuji snickered. “Would they have even helped you?”

Ann glared at him again. “Shut up! Like you even use _your_ notes!”

“Your study skills are lacking, Skull.” Morgana agreed. Ryuji’s face went red, and Ren cleared his throat, cutting off the conversation.

“I’ll share my notes with you, Ann,” he reassured.

Ann smiled weakly. “I’d appreciate that, thank you. Yours are probably better than mine, anyways-- you’re top of the class and all.”

Ren reddened and smiled. “Thanks.”

“We’re not done yet,” Morgana said, speaking up again, “I’ll take some more empty pages from one of Ren’s notebooks. I want each of you to try a few more times before we call it a day.”

All three teens groaned.


End file.
